Check national cemetery eligibility before choosing a burial site
If a parent served in a war or had a long military, police or firefighting career, check national cemetery criteria before committing to a private site.
A general veteran designation does not establish eligibility for every cemetery, and spouse placement has separate conditions.
This calculator classifies entered credentials, unknown records, exclusions and review grounds so a family can prepare the next application step.
Korea-based 2026 rules
Sources were checked on 2026-11-09.
The National Cemeteries Act version effective 2025-02-28 and Enforcement Decree effective 2026-07-01 are used with the related definition statutes.
Basic criteria met is not an approval from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA), a probability of passing honour review, or confirmation of available space.
All monetary comparisons are in KRW and use entered quotes.
Hyeonchungwon and Hogukwon use different credential routes
Military route for Hyeonchungwon
Act Article 5(1)1(e) covers discharged general or flag officers, or people with at least 20 legally credited service years who subsequently die.
Military merit medals and covered wounded service-member categories are separate routes.
A discharged general does not also have to pass the 20-year test.
Long-service route for Hogukwon
Support for Discharged Soldiers Act Article 2(1)2 requires at least 10 years of active service and discharge as a commissioned officer, warrant officer or NCO.
Active enlisted months can be included, but discharge as an enlisted soldier alone does not satisfy this long-service route.
War-veteran, merit-medal, covered fallen/wounded and 30-year police/fire retirement routes are checked separately.
Enter every applicable credential.
A verified military merit medal may establish a basic route even when war-service details remain unknown.
The calculator does not automatically extend a Hyeonchungwon-only qualification to every general Hogukwon.
Jeju Hogukwon has a separate provision under Act Article 5(2); confirm its application with the cemetery.
Separate actual active months from legally credited months
10 active years = 120 months; 20 credited years = 240 months
For the Hogukwon long-service field, use actual active months from verified appointment/enlistment through discharge-month records.
For Hyeonchungwon, enter the authority-verified final duration under Military Pension Act Article 5, including eligible military training.
That calculation can involve triple combat credit, the rule deeming at least 19 years 6 months but less than 20 years to be 20 years, and approved inclusion or aggregation of earlier service.
Do not enter 234 raw months when an authority has verified a final credited total of 240 months, or add another six months to an already adjusted record.
The calculator compares the entered final total and applies no second combat, training or deeming uplift.
Actual active service remains a separate field and should not be replaced by deemed pension credit.
Leave unknown numbers blank; a verified zero is different from an unknown value.
War veterans and 30-year police/fire careers
Verify war service and the Vietnam statutory window
Choose discharged Korean War service member, retired Korean War police officer, discharged Vietnam War service member, or service officially recognized by the defence minister or police commissioner.
The Vietnam period runs from 1964-07-18 through 1973-03-23, inclusive.
An overlap with entered service dates is checked, but dates alone do not establish official recognition.
The War Veterans Act Article 2 proviso requires both a sentence of imprisonment for a wartime crime and dishonourable discharge or removal for that crime.
A sentence alone must not be read as excluding every independent credential route.
360 credited months, mandatory retirement and an applicable death date
The police/fire route needs at least 30 years, or 360 months, credited under Public Officials Pension Act Article 25, plus mandatory retirement in that profession.
Use officially verified aggregation and inclusion records for earlier public, military or eligible school employment and pre-appointment military service.
Calendar employment duration may differ from credited service.
Voluntary or honorary retirement is not automatically mandatory retirement.
Act No. 20356 Addendum Article 3 applies this route to deaths on or after 2025-02-28.
For earlier deaths, examine other war or merit routes separately.
Distinguish statutory exclusions from honour review
The form separates the specified offences and final sentences in Act Article 5(5)3, impeachment or disciplinary dismissal/removal under Article 5(5)4, and an existing adverse honour decision.
Keep statutory exclusion unknown when the actual offence, judgment or final sentence has not been checked.
A general imprisonment or suspended-sentence history is flagged for review under Decree Article 13 and is not automatically treated as a universal statutory exclusion.
Police/fire discipline and nationality exceptions need separate attention
For the 30-year retirement route, career demotion, suspension, pay reduction, a final fine or higher sentence, and deferred sentencing can trigger review under Decree Article 3(5).
An absence of dismissal does not establish an absence of all review grounds.
Lack of South Korean nationality is referred for separate exception assessment, including Act Article 5(7), rather than a conclusive denial by this tool.
Independence patriots, democratic cemeteries, rescue cases and special duty-death categories are outside the simplified scope.
A lifetime decision requires more than being 75
Act Article 11(2) is not a general cemetery reservation system.
Decree Article 12-2 requires age 75 or older, or a diagnosis of irreversible deterioration despite active treatment with death expected within months, together with the prescribed criminal-history or military-record honour-review grounds.
The person must also meet a post-death basic burial category and the remaining nationality, statutory exclusion and dismissal conditions.
A potential application is not approval
A 74-year-old without the specified diagnosis does not meet the age/illness condition.
A 75-year-old with verified basic credentials and a qualifying criminal-history review ground may be shown as a potential lifetime-decision applicant, with no predicted outcome.
Spouse common-law review or police/fire misconduct alone does not automatically establish lifetime-application eligibility.
A lifetime decision may be cancelled after relevant circumstances change, and the family still needs the separate post-death application.
Spouse placement: earlier death, remarriage and common-law relationships
Legal spouse and an earlier-deceased former spouse
Act Article 5(3) starts with the spouse at the principal’s death.
A former spouse who died before the principal remarried can also fall within its terms.
The spouse cannot be placed first through this joint-placement route while the principal lives, unless independently eligible under another category.
Consider temporary placement and revisit joint placement after the principal dies.
Later remarriage, divorce and common-law status
A spouse who marries another person after the principal’s death is excluded from this spouse route.
A divorced former spouse differs from an earlier-deceased former spouse.
A common-law relationship at death requires confirmation of recognition and the applicable committee decision; this tool flags a review check.
Ask the cemetery about existing Veterans Review Committee recognition and tablet arrangements where remains are unavailable.
The 60-year reference is not an automatic removal date
Calendar review reference = base date + 60 years
Under Act Article 15, the base is the death date, with deaths before 2006-01-30 using 2006-01-30 instead.
For qualifying spouse joint placement, use the later death of the two people.
After 60 years the committee considers permanent burial or memorial-tablet placement.
The date is not an automatic eviction or exhumation date.
The calculator displays a calendar 60th-anniversary reference; confirm the exact legal period end and subsequent decision with the authority.
In the fictional example, a principal dying on 2026-11-01 and a qualifying spouse dying on 2026-11-05 produce a base of 2026-11-05 and a reference of 2086-11-05.
A living spouse or pending marriage/eligibility review does not supply a fictional future death date.
The principal-only reference is shown until appropriate joint placement is confirmed, then the base must be reconsidered.
How to use the form and interpret the result
- Set the reference date and living/deceased status, using the actual death date where applicable.
- Select every applicable credential and copy verified periods and categories from official records.
- Review nationality, statutory exclusions, sentences, discipline and marriage records. Leave unverified facts unknown.
- Select Check burial and spouse criteria, then read the overall result and both facility credential rows.
- Collect the listed documents and contact the official national cemetery system or MPVA counselling service.
A facility row showing credential criteria met does not override an overall exclusion, review or unknown status.
The reference date is limited to verified 2026 rules; another year is not silently substituted.
Editing the form hides the previous result until another check.
Future dates cannot be entered as actual deaths, and a former earlier-deceased spouse cannot have a death after the principal.
Correct inconsistent records before relying on the output.
Fictional example and limits of the cost comparison
A discharged NCO with 120 active months
With 120 verified active months and 120 credited months, the long-service Hogukwon route meets its duration criterion, while military service alone does not meet the 240-month Hyeonchungwon route.
If common exclusions and review grounds are absent and death/marriage records are verified, the spouse criteria can also be considered.
A fictional private couple-site quote of KRW 12,000,000 minus family costs of KRW 800,000 with national placement gives KRW 11,200,000.
The difference uses entered quotes and is not a nationwide funeral average or confirmed grant.
Act Article 16 covers state-funded placement in the burial facility; the entire funeral, including funeral hall, food, cremation and transport, is not necessarily free.
Transfer costs up to transport into the cemetery are generally family costs, subject to specific statutory exceptions such as certain cases without close relatives.
No difference is displayed if either quote is unknown, negative differences are preserved, and a result during review assumes approval.
Use the same people, period and cost scope in both quotes; include any separate spouse site costs if spouse placement is unavailable.
Frequently asked questions
Does a veteran certificate guarantee Hyeonchungwon burial?
No.
The exact credential, common exclusions, review grounds and documents require official confirmation and approval.
How should 19 years 6 months of military service be entered?
Use the final authority-verified credited months under Military Pension Act Article 5 for Hyeonchungwon.
Keep actual active months separate and apply no second deeming adjustment.
Does 30-year honorary police retirement qualify under this route?
The 30-year police/fire route also needs mandatory retirement.
Review other war or merit routes separately if that condition is absent.
Can an old suspended sentence be entered as no?
Enter the actual sentence history.
Passage of time alone does not erase the question; check honour review and statutory exclusion separately.
Can anyone over 75 reserve a burial place?
Age alone is insufficient.
Basic eligibility, prescribed honour-review grounds and the other Article 11(2) conditions remain necessary.
Can a spouse be placed first while the principal lives?
Not through this spouse route.
Without an independent qualifying credential, consider other placement until the principal dies and joint placement can be assessed.
Does the calculator approve common-law spouses?
No outcome is predicted.
Confirm existing official recognition and whether additional review is needed with the cemetery.
Must remains be moved after exactly 60 years?
There is no automatic removal decision.
Article 15 requires committee consideration of permanent burial or memorial-tablet placement.
Official sources, effective dates and future checks
The official law API was directly checked on 2026-11-09 for National Cemeteries Act MST260765, Decree MST287087, Discharged Soldiers Act MST285541, War Veterans Act MST289313, Public Officials Pension Act MST290745, Military Pension Act MST290775 and Veterans Act MST289309.
Specified exclusions reference Veterans Act Article 79(1)1–4 and other provisions, so the actual offence and final judgment must be checked.
Pre-1981 military deaths, independence/democratic cemetery categories, special firefighter cases and nationality exceptions are outside this simplified determination.
- National Cemeteries Act, Articles 5, 8, 11, 15, 16 / effective 2025-02-28
- Enforcement Decree, Articles 3, 12-2, 13 / effective 2026-07-01
- Support for Discharged Soldiers Act, Article 2 / effective 2026-10-22
- War Veterans Act, Article 2 / effective 2026-09-08
- Public Officials Pension Act Article 25 / effective 2026-10-02
- Military Pension Act Article 5 / effective 2026-10-02
Before an actual application, reconfirm credited service, applicable death dates, criminal/disciplinary records, marriage evidence and current forms.
Act Article 8 restricts new body burial, with legacy-site transitional provisions requiring separate confirmation.
Do not infer permission for body burial from a credential result.
Temporary placement may be needed while review is pending, so coordinate the funeral schedule and cemetery procedure.
Prepare the documents and the next decision
Collect military-service, war/merit and career/mandatory-retirement records, death registration and detailed marriage records.
For a transfer, confirm exhumation or remains-release documents; for a lifetime decision, prepare age/medical and review-ground evidence.
Check the official national cemetery application system or call 1577-0606 before deciding whether to sign a private-site contract.